Left Hanging
by kassc
Summary: The crew wakes in a strange situation. How did they get there and will they escape?
1. Chapter 1

**Left Hanging**

_Set any time after series 3._

_Warnings: some violence. _

_Spoilers: none._

_Disclaimer: I don't own it; I make no money from it. Not written for profit, simply for pleasure._

_Thoughts are written in italics._

_The spelling mistakes for the Trip's dialogue were intentional to fit with his accent._

_Enjoy!_

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><p>As Lieutenant Malcolm Reed drifted back to consciousness, the only thing he was aware of was the pounding in his head. <em>What happened this time? <em> He twitched and new pains made themselves known to his befuddled mind. He took a mental itinerary; _head, arms, chest… hmm broken ribs again probably, head, left hand, head, no pain in my legs- at least that's something I suppose, head…_ He groaned and tried to work out how he had gotten into this much pain this time. _Odd…_ he thought. _Usually I'd be in sickbay by now._ He shook his head, wincing at the spikes of fresh pain that flashed across his mind, and tried to remember.

_Trip. Trip was there. And the Captain… They had been on the bridge. Hoshi. She was translating. T'Pol saw something on sensors. That's right. _He tried in vain to hurry his brain along. _The sensors were going off because… because of the ship! The alien ship. Captain Archer was talking to them. Trip had stood up to address them. Phlox was there. They wanted medical help. Hoshi was translating, and… _

At this point his mind stubbornly refused to enlighten him with any more information. He gasped as more pain streaked violently across his chest and smelt something. _Smoke!_ His eyes flashed open, and his senses were immediately assaulted.

The thick, black smoke forced its way down his sore throat and burned against his nose and eyes. Flashes of light sparked from empty consoles. His crewmates were nowhere in sight. _We must have been attacked, _he realised. He stared at his own ruined console, hoping for more information. Warning lights blinked innocently back at him. He looked towards Hoshi's station at a pained groan.

"Hoshi?" he tried to yell, but with the dense smog pushing against his chest it came out as a wheeze. Groaning was good, he decided. If you could groan then you were still alive. "Hoshi? T'Pol?" he tried again, praying to whoever might be listening that their sensitive hearing would distinguish his voice and they would reply. He looked down at himself, only to find his view obstructed by the large support beam pressing into his stomach. His eyes popped slightly. _Ah. Not good. That's supposed to be in the ceiling. That explains why there's no pain in my legs. Definitely not good._

He shifted his arm, intending to try and push the beam away, only for it to swing to his left and hand there. He stared at it until another moan came to his ears, this one decidedly more masculine.

"What in the-?" _Trip. _It had to be Trip. His brain caught up and began shifting what little information he had into facts, and he realised that not only must everyone in the bridge, with the exception of himself, been thrown to the port side of the ship in whatever attack or explosion _Enterprise_ had been privy to this time, but the grav plating must be offline, else his arm wouldn't dangle to his side. That meant one thing. _We landed. _He frowned. _Sideways. _There had been no habitable planets nearby. _What's going on? _He wondered, as a blissfully familiar voice reached his ears.

"Urgh. Everyone alright?" Archer asked, sounding heavily winded. Malcolm wished he could see through the smoke to judge how badly the others were wounded.

"I am uninjured, Captain," came T'Pol's coolly , detached Vulcan voice. "I will endeavour to find out the status of the rest of the ship."

"Good. Hoshi?"

"I'm OK Sir, just a few bruises," Hoshi reassured her worried Captain shakily.

"Trip? Travis?"

"Fine, Sir," Travis said, sounding mildly dazed.

"Me too, Cap'n. Although ah'm gonna be havin' words with those aliens about proper manners when meetin' a new species. Especially if they want some help from us," Trip grumbled.

"Captain," T'Pol interrupted. "I have managed to get reports from all departments. There are no serious injuries and no fatalities".

"Thank God," Archer sighed. "Try and find out what happened, can you T'Pol? Phlox? How about you? Are you hurt?"

"No permanent damage done, Captain," came the cheery reply, " Just a few minor bruises. Although I think I should be the judge of if you are all 'fine', hmm?"

Malcolm released a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding as relief surged through his veins at hearing that the rest of the crew was OK. The giddiness added to his lightheaded feeling, and his headache, and the world span dizzily.

"Sure Doc," Archer smiled. Malcolm could tell even when he couldn't see the man. "Malcolm?"

There was a pause.

"Malcolm?" The Captain sounded concerned now, his voice taking on an urgent edge to it. Malcolm tried to breathe in so that he could answer, but he couldn't seem to get enough air into his lungs. The world span faster.

"Malcolm? Can you hear me? Where is he? I can't see him. Malcolm?"

The Captain's now panicky voice was joined by Travis and Trip's, as they called for him.

"Everyone shut up a sec!" Hoshi commanded, and the activity to find the missing Lieutenant stopped abruptly. "I think I hear something."

_Yes!_ Malcolm thought. _Come on Hoshi! Use that hearing of yours! I'm up here. Look up. Up here. _In the sudden hush of the bridge his own shallow raspy breathing sounded like a shout. He tried again to call back to his friends, only to choke feebly on the air.

"Up there," Hoshi said, sounding terrified at the very idea.

The Captain took control again. "We need to see. Everyone, get all the doors open, quick! That should draw out some of the smoke."

The sounds of protesting metal doors scraping along their runners met his ears, as the smoke seemed to thin slightly. His breathing didn't ease, and a strange metallic tasting liquid swirled around his mouth, and he let his eyes drift shut as the world continued to spin around him.

A sudden gasp drew his attention. His eyes snapped open again, and he could see the shapes of the rest of the bridge crew staring up at him as he focused harder on breathing. A quiet groan escaped him as the pain tore into him once more and his eyes snapped shut against it. The pain swelled and the shrill ringing that had started in his ears blocked out the sounds of the others trying to reach him.

There was pressure at his wrist suddenly, and he cracked his eyes to blink owlishly at Archer checking for his pulse. His Captain looked relieved to find one and opened his mouth to speak to him.

"Malcolm," he said, but the words were muffled, as if coming from a great distance away. "Look at me. Look at me!" Malcolm's blue eyes found his Captain's worried brown orbs. "You're going to be OK, Malcolm. We'll get you fixed up in no time." He smiled weakly and yelled for Phlox over his shoulder before turning back to Malcolm.

The doctor appeared seconds later with a medical scanner and took in Malcolm's condition. "Captain, we need to stop the blood flow. Please put pressure on the wound. We need to move him quickly, I'll get the others to help."

Archer nodded worriedly as the doctor disappeared again. "Sorry Malcolm," he said. "Doctor's orders. I think this is probably going to hurt." As his Captain pressed down hard on his stomach the pain spiked and Malcolm felt his world spin dangerously, as the edges of his vision blurred to black. The Captain was speaking to him, but Malcolm could no longer hear what he was saying. As he drifted once more into unconsciousness the last this he saw was the bright light of a phase pistol being fired.

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><p>TBC...<p>

Please read and review :)


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I still don't own it; I make no money from it. Not written for profit, simply for pleasure._

_Thoughts are written in italics._

_Thanks to Humminbird2, iccle fairy, Moichino, Dragon Tamer103088 and West Dean for reading and reviewing :)_

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><p><span>Chapter 2<span>

Trip Tucker was abruptly woken by a rude prod to his ribs. He let out a low groan and swatted at the offending person, warding them off from any more poke attacks, only to encounter a cold, wet round object and a lot of warm fur.

Trip's eyes snapped open, only for him to cover them hastily with his arm. _Damn it's bright out here!_ He thought, squinting at the Captain's small dog that had nudged him awake. _Wait a sec, out here? Where the hell is out here?_

Broken images and disjointed voices forced themselves into his bleary mind, flashing across his memory as he tried to sort them into any logical sense. _Ha._He thought with a slight smile._ Logic. T'Pol would be proud o' me. _He gasped. _T'Pol. _

The fractured pictures in his head solidified suddenly. _The aliens. Hoshi screaming. The Crash. The dark. Malcolm pinned. Jon yelling and then… nothing. _

Trip took his hand away from his eyes and peered at his surroundings for the first time. Tall, mottled, close set trees towered over him, their bright orange foliage drooping towards him from indeterminable heights through the harsh light from above. _A forest? _He gazed at them in amazement for a few moments, feeling the curiosity of a true explorer kick in despite his situation.

Porthos nudged his him again, and let out a low whimper. Trip sat up as quickly as he dared in the strange environment, taking note of the dull ache in his chest. Glancing down at himself, he was shocked to see the small rips in his uniform sweeping across his torso and arms. Porthos yipped, drawing his attention again. He looked up at the small dog and saw why.

_Jon!_

Trip scrambled over to where the dog stood over his motionless master on the tall blue grass and frantically searched for a pulse, fumbling in his panic. His fingers fumbled over Archer's throat desperately.

He let out a sigh as he felt the steady thumping of life in his Captain's neck and his shoulders slumped with relief. Porthos barked again and placed his paw on Archer's leg, turning to look at Trip.

Trip chuckled. _Porthos, sometimes Ah almost think you're human buddy!_ Taking his cue from the small animal, Trip shook his Captain gently until he began to come to.

"Trip? What's going on?" Archer asked groggily.

Trip shrugged. _Good question. _"Wish ah knew, Cap'n."

Archer made as though to get up, but Trip pushed firmly down on the man's shoulder, noticing the grimes in his face and the singe marks and tears on his uniform.

Archer allowed himself to be pushed back to the ground, and instead asked "The others?"

"We're the only one's ah can see, Jon. Us an' Porthos that is. Ah can't remember much o' what happened. Jus' the crash and findin' Mal pinned. An' then that light. What was that? A phase pistol?"

Jon nodded, this time pushing away Trip's restraining hand and heaving himself into a sitting position. He let out a groan, which earned him a whimper from Porthos and a concerned look from Trip, and proceeded to use a nearby tree to pull himself up to standing. He swayed slightly and Trip steadied him.

"Yes, a phase pistol I think. Malcolm's put me through extra target training last week; I recognised the sound," Archer said, clenching his teeth against the pain shooting across his back. "We need to find the others. Malcolm, he was hurt bad. If we don't get him to Phlox soon…"

Jon didn't have to finish the sentence, and he saw Trip pale before a look of steely determination came into his eyes.

"There's jus' one problem there, Jon. How are we gonna find Mal and the others, when we don't know where we are? Unless there's somethin' you're not tellin' me," Trip asked with a weak shadow of his usual smile.

Jon looked around, as though hoping for a clue to where the rest of his crew may be. Porthos yipped again and both man stared at him, before glancing at each other and back at the dog. The small animal was sniffing frantically at their feet, almost as though he understood the urgency of the situation.

He looked up and barked at the two humans before turning and running towards a patch of trees that seemed no different than the others. Jon and Trip shared another glance.

"Seems a good a direction as any," Jon said, waving towards the spot where the small dog was poking his head around one of the trees and staring intently at the two men.

Trip nodded. "Let's go."

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><p>TBC...<p>

Hope you like it! Please read and review.


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I still don't own it; I make no money from it. Not written for profit, simply for pleasure._

_Thoughts are written in italics._

_Sorry it's taken me so long for this bit. Belated Holiday wishes to everyone and more to come for the New Year! _

_Thanks to Humminbird2, iccle fairy, Alelou, volley, West Dean and Spyromaster64 for reading and reviewing! :)_

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><p><span>Chapter 3<span>

Hoshi blinked in the bright light as the familiar figure leaning over her came into better focus. The mouth moved and Hoshi stared, trying to make sense of the distant words washing over her. She frowned and tried to focus.

"Ensign Sato? Can you hear me?"

She finally nodded, and the concerned Denobulan relaxed slightly, sharing a small smile and a glance with someone to his right.

She struggled to sit up, swaying, and suddenly there were hands supporting her. A low whimper caught her attention and she glanced down at the small beagle staring balefully up at her.

"Hoshi? Are you alright?" She looked around to see the Captain and Travis supporting her, Phlox hovering nearby, all staring worriedly at her lack of response. She mentally shook herself. _You will not go to pieces. You're past that now. _

"I'm fine, Sir."

She looked about them as Phlox continued to discuss her condition with the relieved Captain. Trip and T'Pol were kneeling close together under one of the larger trees, drawing with their fingers in the soft blue dirt.

"Hoshi?" Travis' voice drew her attention back to the conversation. "You remember anything more about what happened?"

Hoshi started to shake her head, stopping quickly when the world spun. "No." She looked around again. "Where's Malcolm? Where are we?"

Trip looked up from where his patch of dirt and shared a brief glance with the Captain over her shoulder. Hoshi looked between the two of them.

"Ok, what did I miss?" She asked with a sigh.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Travis asked.

"Umm… Malcolm. He was hurt?" The blurred memories swirling around her mind and the uncertainty in her voice turned the answer into a question.

Archer nodded. "That's right." He paused, looking thoughtful. "Maybe we should work this through. Quickly." He looked around at them all. "OK people what do we know?"

"We receive hails from a ship of unknown configuration claiming to be in need of urgent medical assistance. We responded to their hails and were communicating with their captain, a Mister Vishtnar, while in orbit of an uninhabited planet. We proceed to offer them our assistance. _Enterprise_ then came under heavy fire and the engine was damaged and failed. Ensign Mayweather then performed admirably and landed the ship on the planet. We awoke to find the only crew member seriously injured was Lieutenant Reed, and attempted to assist him, before we were attacked by energy weapons at close range from an unidentifiable source." T'Pol's factually summary was met with stunned stares from the others.

Travis broke the sudden silence. "'Land' is a bit of a stretch!"

Jon smiled weakly, proud of the young officer despite their situation. "You managed it, Travis."

"Yeah, sideways!" Trip added, sounding impressed.

Travis smiled a little and stared at the ground, embarrassed at the praise before a frown creased his normally smooth face.

"We still don't know where we are though. We were supposed to end up on that planet, but I don't remember it looking like this from the scans."

They all glanced to T'Pol questioningly.

"I can offer no explanation, Captain." She said softly.

"So," Hoshi started. "We don't know where we are. Or where Malcolm is. Or the rest of the crew. Or how to get to them. What happened before I woke up?"

"I woke the Cap'n, and we followed Porthos. He seemed to know where you all were even when we didn't." Trip supplied.

"I wouldn't say we've been unconscious for more than half an hour, judging from the Captain's and Ensign Sato's injuries. Not serious, I assure you." Phlox added, holding up a hand to stay any worries they may have voiced. "We all received a few bumps and bruises and some rather unusual scratches. From what I can gather I would think you two both hit your heads. I could be more accurate if I had my medical scanner, but that's the best I can be without one. The crash must have been recent. "

"So…" Archer prompted.

"So Lieutenant Reed still has a chance, if his was not injured any further. You managed to stem the blood loss, Captain, and that will have increased his chances. But it is imperative that we find him quickly. He will need urgent medical attention."

Hoshi felt Jon's sigh of relief from where he was still supporting her.

"Well we gotta find him then," Trip said, looking as the others as though they were insane for not saying the same thing. "T'Pol and I have been workin' on a map." He gestured them all over to the patch of dirt he was still sitting next to. Travis helped a wobbly Hoshi to her feet and they all shuffled over, Porthos following Jon closely.

They gazed down at the mass of wavy lines and circles, as Trip and T'Pol pointed out various places in a wide oval shape on the soil that indicated where everyone had been found.

"What's in the middle? Do we know?" Jon asked tensely.

Trip shook his head. "No Cap'n. Everyone we found has been away from that spot. It's fairly big though. Do you think…?"

Jon nodded. "_Enterprise_. Malcolm hasn't got much time and it seems as likely a place as any. We'll stay together. We don't know what's out here and there's no way to call for help if something goes wrong."

He glanced around at them, needing the support of his senior staff now more than ever, and was relieved to see them all nodding back at him in agreement.

Porthos yipped, almost as though he had understood the entire conversation, and sniffed at the ground in the direction they had decided to search, turning to look back at his bemused master.

Five minutes later they were trudging as quickly as possible through the dense forest, dodging the long orange tendrils as they went. The tall blue grass pulled at their feet, hiding the gnarled tree roots that threatened to trip them every few meters.

The harsh white light from above had given no signs of dimming and pounded down on their heads relentlessly as the forest became thicker, and they became more desperate.

Trip's earlier unexpected enthusiasm at finding himself in a new alien environment had quickly waned to be overshadowed by concern for his friend. He scanned the close-set trees and strained his ears for any sounds that might give them a clue of which way to go, although he knew that Hoshi and T'Pol's sensitive hearing would pick up any useful sounds far sooner than he could.

His mind wandered without his consent over his many adventures with Malcolm during their time on _Enterprise._ Risa, the shuttle pod, the repair station, there were so many. He couldn't abide to think that there might not be any more. _No. We'll find him. We'll find him and Phlox will fix him up and he'll be fine. _Trip grimaced as he thought about how much Malcolm would complain at being cooped up in sickbay. Even if it was for his own good.

"Can you hear that?" Hoshi suddenly asked, and they all stopped. Trip turned towards her, hoping beyond hope that she had recognised Malcolm's voice.

She looked around at their stares. "No animals. This forest is obviously doing well; there are plants everywhere, but no animals at all. Not even insects."

"Perhaps none inhabit this planet," T'Pol suggested.

"Or something scared them away," Archer added grimly. "Come on, let's keep moving."

As they set off again Trip thought about that. He had taken the lack of insects as a blessing rather than a warning. He stared around himself at the strange world, and wondered once again what was going on. The only thing he was certain of was that they had to find Malcolm. Fast. Unconsciously, he quickened his pace.

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><p>Please read and review!<p> 


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